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Home My WebLink About09-28-1999 Articles Local ~lews - Tile Des Moines Register http://wv,~, dmregisler.com/news/stories, c4788993~9004580.htnll ~ Navigation: Headlines: Crime & Courts: Report Grand jury clears officers' use of deadly force th~$ ~ummerl ~ Sections By TOM ALEX · Headlines · News Extras Register Staff Writer · Forums 09/23/1999 Win a FREE · Columnists Membership! · Weather For the third time this year, a Polk County grand jury · Duffv has cleared Des Moines police officers of criminal "My Worst Oate" · Other News wrongdoing in a fatal shooting. Contest · Sports · Entertainment Polk County Attorney John Sarcone said the grand jury returned no indictment in the June 30 shooting ~ Marketplaces of Russell Andrew Stein by Sgt. Russell Schafnitz · Cars and Officer Gregory Dickel. · Employment · Real Estate · Classifieds Peter Berger, attorney for Schafnitz, the officer most directly involved in the confrontation with Stein, said the officers were clearly justified in how they reacted to a call involving an apparently mentally disturbed man. "After being repeatedly stabbed while trying to subdue Mr. Stein, Sergeant Schafnitz had to use deadly force. He acted heroically and with great restraint, which nearly cost his own life," Berger said. "The grand jury is routinely convened when there is a police shooting. Its decision is just and was expected." Schafnitz armed himself only with a chemical spray in one hand and a Taser, which delivers an electrical shock, in the other, Berger said. Both were used but failed to stop Stein. Ultimately both officers pulled their guns and shot Stein. He died near his home in the 1400 block of Southeast Glenwood Drive. Police Chief William Moulder said officers are studying ways to better deal with those who do not take their medication or who are mentally ill. He said the mother ora young man who may be like Stein called police last summer offering to work with officers as they develop a plan to identify issues and find resources to help resolve them. Moulder said Schafnitz and Dickel, who had been 9,23,99 9:33 AM l.ocal News - The Des Moines Register http://www.dmregisler.com/news/stories/c4788993/9064580.html reassigned to administrative duty, will return to their regular posts today. In July, a grand jury cleared Des Moines Officers Joseph Morgan and Terry Mitchell in the April 20 fatal shooting of Jerome Mozee. In June, a grand jury cleared Des Moines Officer Timothy Peak in the March 28 fatal shooting of Adam Clark. · Navigation: Headlines: Crime & Courts: Report Copyright © 1999, The Des Moines Register. Use of this site signifies your agreement to the Terms of Service (updated 2/23/98). 9/23/99 9:33 AM Washi~gtonpost.com: Montgomery Residents Give Police High Marks, Bit of Advice hnp://w,,,?.v.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/daily/sept99/pmrace2 I.htm New From The Post Letted.size Montgomery Residents Give Police High Marks, Hanging FoMem 83% off Bit of Advice Washington Post Staff Writer Pa*l~,~r Sites: Tuesday. September 2 l, 1999; 1:00 p.m. EDT ql~itaani~a Inter~ot Iluida Most Montgomery County residents surveyed recently gave their police high marks, but the police department needs to improve how it handles complaints from the public to increase trust among some From The Post residents, according to a study released today by the County Council's April 27: Duncan investigative branch. Wants Police to Probe Racial The review, which was presented to the council this morning, comes 'Profiling' amid an ongoing federal civil rights review into complaints from the August 1998: Panel Montgomery branch of the NAACP that the department has not Releases Report on adequately dealt with some officers accused of brutalizing and Montgomery Police February 1998: harassing minorities. Police Mistreatment Alleged in A recent survey of 805 Montgomery County residents showed that 73 Montgomery percent said they had a "great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in the county police, according to the Office of Legislative Oversight report. However, confidence levels were lower among African American residents, with 61 percent of those surveyed giving a high confidence rating. The study noted that a national Gallup Poll of black Americans last year found that only 33 percent gave police such high marks. To build stronger trust in the community, the report recommended that Montgomery police make it easier for residents to complain about $1rjll Up now ! officers' conduct, while also devising better ways to find and weed out w~tirtllonpoat~,m abusive officers. The report recommended holding offon establishing a citizens group to review the internal affairs system for 12 to 18 months, to give new Police Chief Charles A. Moose time to implement his own changes. In a written response to the report, Moose and County Chief Administrative Officer Bruce Romer noted that the department had already made some of the recommended changes. Police now take complaints at all police facilities, including neighborhood substations, and the department has devised a new brochure to explain how the public can file complaints. Moose also wrote that the department has added more staff to its Department of Internal Affairs to shorten the time required for internal ~/ashingtonpost.com: Montgomery Residents Give Police High Marks, Bit of Advice http://wx~w.washingtonpost.coiWwp-srv/local/dady/sept99'pmrace2 l.htm investigations. The report found that in the past, some investigations had taken up to two years, instead of the optimal 90 days. © 1999 The Washington Post Company Back to the top ~'RmT Iow'noR TO~'#'~'WS WC,'~LD ~/,.'no~ Potmcs SUSlHESS&TECH #~)~.TH ORI#IO# WEATKER The Real Edge In Real Estate®. 2 of 2 9/21/99 1:20 PM 29 questions city council did f id you'll k [~n ates are ara as SPR NG 1999 For Immediate Release February 12, 1999 ABOUT NA£0LE N~C Police Shooting of Unarmed African Immigrant - FROM THE PRESIDENT The Board of Directors of the National Association PRESS RELEASE ON of Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE} is DIALL0 SHOOTING outraged by the recent shooting of an unarmed black man by officers of the New York City Police Department. NA- DRIVING WHILE COLE urges an immediate and independent investigation of BLAC~ the shooting of Amadou Diallo by the US Department of Justice and the Bronx District.Attorney s Office. Diallo, RESOURCESFOR THE an unarmed 22 year old immigrant from Guinea, West Af- CIVI~AN OVERSIGHT rica, was tragically shot dead by four New York Police COMMUNIF{ Officers on February 4, 1999 in the doorway of his home in Bronx, NY. According to news reports, four police offic- 1998 CONFERENCE ers fired a total of 41 bullets from the 9mm semiauto- KEYNOTE ADDRESS matic handguns, hitting Mr. Diallo 19 times. He h~d no crimina~record according to the New York Times and was NEW CITIZEN carryin~only a beeper and a wallet. REVIEW BOARDS This case and the 1997 case of horrific police LE~ERS FROM OUR brutality toward Abner Louima, a Haitian immigrant, dem- onstrate disturbing patters of police brutality and ex- COLLEAGUES cessive and unjustifiable use of force by the New York City Police Department toward minority groups. The major- EDITORIAL: ity of US complaints of civil rights violation and police C~NTON~ NEW brutali~are filed by minority groups-predominantly Af- STANCE ON P0~CE rican-Americans. The New York City Civilian Complaint BRUTA~TY Review Board consistently reports that the majority of complaints it receives are filed by African-Americans. INCIDENTS OF pOncE NACOLE is concerned by this growing trend and urges that ABUSE AROUND THE the New York City Police Department address these viola- COUNTRY tions of civil rights and institute comprehensive reforms to prevent further erosion of these fundaments rights. A BRTEF H1 STORY OF NACOLE In 1993, several members of the U.S. delegation to the International Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (IACOLE) conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts met to discuss issues of mutual concern relating to civilian oversight within the United States. The agenda of this meeting was the formation of a national organization to address the specific needs of civilians organized for law en- forcement oversight At the 1994 IACOLE conference in Orlando, Florida, U.S. delegates continued to discuss the creation of the new national organization. In April of 1995, a group of individuals met in Landover, Mary- land and approved the articles of incorporation and preliminary bylaws. On May 16, 1995, the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE) began its operations. As NACOLE continues to grow, the relationship between police and community--particularly the minority community---continues to be one of the most critical social issues facing this country. The number of civilian oversight agencies in the U.S. has significantly increased. Of the nation's 100 largest cities, 71 have citizen review mechanisms. Since 1996, NACOLE has assisted more than 20 cities in their establishment of systems. NACOLE recognizes that the majority of law enforcement officers strive,'often under dangerous and demanding circumstances, to carry out their duties in a restrained, lawful and professional manner. Despite this, the United States has a growing crisis of police misconduct Citizens want to feel secure that police officers are in the community to serve and protect all citizens of that community. We believe that citizens have a right to assurance that adequate mechanisms are available to review and investigate ques- tionable or unacceptable actions of law enforcement officers. · BOARD OF DTRECTORS NACOLE STRI'VES TO: Officers · Facilitate and involve the community as a true part' Brian C. Reeder, President, Indianapolis, IN net in community policing; Malvina Monteiro, Vice President, Cambridge, MA · Provide for establishment, development, education Lama Spearman, Secretary, Indianapolis, IN and technical assistance in alt phases of civilian over- Clyde B. Davis,Treasurer, Lanham, MD sight; · Develop a national forum to promote the idea of Members-at-Large civilian review; Merrick Bobb, Los Angeles, CA · Establish a clearinghouse of information; · Provide technical assistance for emerging organ~za- Donald Casimere, Richmond, CA tions; James L Johnson, Cincinnati, OH · Provide continuing education opportunities for pcac- Joseph Sandoval, Denver, CO titioners of civilian oversight; Sue Quinn, San Diego, CA · Develop an extensive library of research materials K. Felicia Davis, Syracuse, NY and publications for use in the field; · Encourage the highest ethical standards in civilian The NACOL~ Revfew ;s a publicotion of~e oversight organizations; NationalAssoda'don for Gvflian Oversight of Law Enforcement · Educate the public by developing mechanisms to en- hance police and community relations; Clyde B. Davis · Educate law enforcement agencies and encourage The NACOLE Review them to respond with sensitivity to citizens' complaints; P.O. Box I I I 0 · Encourage full racial and ethnic representation and L~nharn, MD 20703 tel: (301) 731-5808 participation in NACOLE and the organizations over- seen by its members. fax: (30 I) 794-0264 LE1TER FROM THE PRESIDENT '! feared for my safety and the safety of the other officers invotved..." "!t appeared he was reaching for a gun..." As reports come in from all over the country concerning police abuse in various jurisdictions, incidents in NewYork City completely overshadow the accounts of police misconduct in other cities. It seems there is a mindset that considers this misconduct of police officers an anomaly instead of a national epidemic. Jurisdictions large and small are being ravaged by the incessant and unfor- tunate behavior of a small percentage of police officers who seem to think they can "become the law" instead of"enforcing the laws" of the people they have sworn to protect and serve. However, African American and Latino communities experience a different face of police com- mitment to their communities. Abuses are everyday events: police harassment, groundless traffic stops, 3 strip searches, handcuffing for officer safety while detaining speeders, arrests for disorderly conduct when asked for a badge numbers or names, multiple issuance of uniform traffic tickets for taillight violations, seat-belt violations and crossing the center or yellow line. These are all charges which have been used when the stop and search of minority drivers did not discover drugs, guns or the like. These incidents don't receive the newspaper headlines police shootings, beatings, deaths in custody and use of CS on minors all receive, but they are still extremely powenCul motivators for the distrust and negative percep- tions of police by our constituents. We must address the roots of this police misconduct within the academy and the culture of law enforcement--urban diversity can hardly be made commonplace to young recruits through 20 hours of diversity training at the start of their academy training. A loaded weapon and virtually unrestrained power to use it do not contribute to positive conflict resolution in "strange" or "foreign" cultures and communities. Police abuse is no longer ghettoized in minority communities. Middle class and affluent neighbor- hoods are now experiencing being "caught" in the middle of nowhere with no witnesses and nowhere to turn except the courts or the Review Process to investigate the matter. Currently, people are turning to the courts and away from Citizens' Review Panels because of the letter's failure in taking decisive action. As practitioners, we must do whatever is necessary to improve the image of our citizen's review pro- cesses and raise the expectancy and faith of the public in the CRP. · Publicize tracking mechanisms of officers who have multiple incidents without witnesses so that discipline still may be administered by the department upon the recommendation of the CRF~ · If there is no tr~cking mechanism in place, work until there is one. · Catalog and publish reports that reveal trends and geographical areas where police abuses occur. · Raise the level of community concern so that the public can put pressure on officials to effect change. Often, the people who are in the position to prevent police abuses are not even aware there is a problem. Ensure that information is widely available to officials and to the public so that our democratic institutions can be put to work. · The bottom line is: m~tke things happen in your jurisdiction. A strong citizen presence independent of internal police processes--is essential to hold individual officers accountable for their actions. Citizen Review Panels must work proactively and progressively with police agencies to reduce the frequency of police misconduct in our jurisdictions. Our organizations have begun to solidify themselves as agencies where people can come and expect their concerns to be ad- dressed in a professional and decisive manner. It will take a valiant effort on the part of NACOLE and other like-minded agencies to effect change, but we must perservere. This is not a quest for the faint of heart. · --Brian C. Reeder, President, NACOLE INCIDENTS OF POLICE ABUSE AROUND THE COUNTRY Bronx, NY Unarrned WestAfrican immigrant shot dead by NYC police. 41 total bullets were fired. Below is one artJcle from the media flurry surrounding the event. Pataki slams Giuliani's handling of shooting 'Part of governing is...listening to criticism,' he says By Chelsea J. Carter, Associated Press, 03/22/99 NEW YORK - Governor George E. Pataki criticized Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani yesterday for his handling of the police shooting death of Amadou Diallo, saying the incident has created ''understandable moral outrage.'' ''The Diallo incident was so horrendous and so horrific that it has created a sense of moral outrage, an understandable moral outrage, for all of us,''Pataki said on ABC's ''This Week.'' Giuliani has come under increasing criticism in recent weeks from mi- norities and others who say he has not adequately responded to the Feb. 4 killing of Diallo, in which four officers fired 41 shots at the unarmed West African immigrant. He was struck 19 times. ''There is a legitimate fear, among particularly minority groups, that the police can from time to time be too quick to take violent action,'' Pataki said. A spokesman for Giuliani said that the mayor had not seen the interview and therefore could not comment on it. Almost daily rallies have been held outside the police headquarters, withprotesters demanding the suspension and arrest of the four white officers involved in the shooting. Protesters, including the Rev. A1 Sharpton, formermayor David Dinkins, and Democratic Representative Charles Rangel, have been arrested. Giuliani has called the daily demonstrations and arrests ''publicity stunts.'' ''The city is doing very well, but part of governing is being tolerant and listening to criticism and responding appropriately to criticism,'' Pataki said on the talk show. While Pataki said he agreed with Giuliani that officials should wait until investigations are finished before taking action, he added: ''We cer- tainly can conclude that firing 41 shots at an unarmed person and killing him is something we can all express moral outrage to without making a legal judg- ment with respect to the actions of any particular individual.'' Riverside, CA 19 year old African American shot 12 times in the back ~ she sat in her Trenton, NJ Documen~ rele~ed showing that 75 pe~ent of stops on the New Je~ey turnpike in a two-month period in 1997 were of minori~es. (Associ~ed Press, 2/I 8~9) con,hued on page 6 DRIVING WHTLE BLACK: A NATIONAL PROBLEM by Sue Quinn R ecently much local and national attention has focussed on the issue known as "Driving While Black (or Brown)" or DWB. This article discusses DWB and identifies several resources for ~ civilian review agencies dealing with citizen complaints of stops they perceive have been made for racial purposes. It also links DWB to another serious,current concern in the civilian oversight community: the rise of "Stop and Frisk" law enforcement actions based on race and/or age. In minority communities throughout the country, it is believed that traffic stops are made b~sed 5 on the race and sometimes the age of the driver. These are stops believed to be made without actual probable cause that any infraction or actual offense has been committed--they are stops made on the basis of one's "driving while black (or brown or young):' Conversely, law enforcement either denies this kind of"racial profiling" or states that it recog- nizes how minority communities can believe this, but suggests it is only a perception, that actual probable cause does exist to stop. That argument is countered by others who say that given traffic laws, an officer can always observe a driver long enough to identifi/some minor infraction as a reason to stop him or her, but that far too many of these stops occur in minority communities, or are made of minority persons d~iving in non-minority areas. These stops are also known as "Pretext Stops" since it is believed they ~re made on a pretext or unfairly, and are an attempt to keep minority or youth in their place, to harass and that will, in worst cases, lead to the use of lethal force. No statistics on race, age or gender have been collected, though the ACLU and other concerned groups have called for statistical counting for many years, and the U.S. Congress is now addressing this. RESOURCES In communities with active civilian review boards, commissions, Inspector General systems or other methods of public oversight of police practices, the public oversight method offers a fine arena for public examination and discussion of the individual DWB cases and police policies in local iurisdictions. · The following paper, available on the internet, provides a "map" of how to use your oversight method to address DWB:"Pretext Stops:Where Do We Go From Here?" which is available on the internet at http:llwww, stanford.edulclassllaw4951hecker, htm. In February, 1999, the City of San Diego's Chief of Police, Jerry Sanders, agreed to voluntarily begin collecting racial data on traffic stops, believing that it must be gathered to identify whether DWB stops in San Diego are an actuality or a perception,and recognizing that even if they are only a perception, that perception itself needs to be addressed.While Chief Sanders will leave his post in mid-April, the City of San Diego is committed to addressing the issue, and may be a model for other jurisdictions who seek to do the same. · Further public hearings are slated for summer and will be held at the City of San Diego Civil Service Commission. For more information, contact the City of San Diego Chief of Police Office at 619- 531-2000, or the Civil Service Commission at 619-236- 6155. · For additional information on the DWB issue, please contact any NACOLE Board Member. A GUIDE TO NON-GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES INVOLVED IN MONITORING POLICE MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS American Civil Liberties Union wv~,.aclu.org (contains police practices materials and links to related sites) John Crew, Director Police Project 1663 Mission Street, Suite 460 San Francisco, CA 94103 (415) 621-2493 ext. 39 Amnesty International 6 www. rightsforall-usa, org (contains their recent study of human rights abuses in the United States including police abuse and the prison system) Human Rights Watch www. hrw. org Their recent report Shielded from Justice: Police Brutality and Accountability in the US, is available on the web. The author, Allyson Collins, can be contacted at Collina~hrw. org Police Complaint Center www. policeabuse.com 1-800-681 - 1874 A useful resource for communities without civilian review processes. ACADEMIC RESOURCES Paul Chevigny, New York University School of Law, 40 Washington Square South, New York, NY 10012. Author of Edge of the Knife. James Fife, coauthor of Above ~he Law: Police and the Excessive Use of Force. Jerome Skolnick, NYU School of Law, coauthor of Above the Law: Police and the Excessive Use of Force. Samuel Walker, Professor, University of Nebraska at Omaha. For additional contacts, partficularly for specific regions, please contact Sue Quinn (suelqq@aol. com) or ~ny other board member. If you have contacts or resources that would be of iaterest to other NACOLE members, please send them to Sue so she can include them in her growing directory. INCIDENTS OF POLICE ABUSE AROUND THE COUNTRY Washington, DC 85 people shot and killed by DC police since 1990, higher than LosAngeles or Chicago, despite the smaller size of its force. Nearly 75% of officers failed the weapons standard in 1996, and 19 officers had accidentally shot themselves or others in the past I 0 years, with more than 120 unintentional dis- charges reported. (Law Enforcement News, I 1/30/98) continued on page 'Il EXCERPTS FROM KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY U.S. REPRESENTATTVE 3ULi'A CARSON 1_998 NACOLE CONFERENCE, INDTANAPOLlrS, IN y ou are engaged in very vital dialog--a situation that has needed to be accommodated by citizens' review commissions, such as you represent here, for a number of years. I believe that because we are in the age of high-technology and the f~ct that somebody just happened to have a video camera when Rodney King was assaulted out in California it made this whole issue of police brutality a real one, because it was captured on film. It is nothing new of course forAmerica and I'm sure you, as I do, have a great deal of respect for law enforcemen~ We understand that there are fine women and men who put their lives on the line for our own safety 24 hours a day. But as in any other institution, there are certainly overzealous individuals...no group of people is free from its problems and free from its individu- als whose behavior often times cast a blemish upon the entire organization. And so I understand the very 7 difficult and challenging task that you undertake and I wanted to say how grateful I am that you have committed your eager selves to ensuring what the forefathers probably had in mind when they inscribed that this is one nation under God with liberty and iustice for all people .... Police abuse remains one of the most serious and divisive issues in our country, Excessive use of force by police officers persists because overwhelming barriers to accountability makes it possible for some officers to escape scrutiny and punishment and they often repeat their offenses. These abuses include unjustified shootings, severe beatings, fatal chokings, and incidents of racial discrimination and rough treatment. Public or police officials greet each new report of brutality with denials or explain it was an ~ct that was called fort Meanwhile the administrative and criminal systems that should deter the abuses by holding officers accountable instead virtually guarantee them impunity. We had a challenge in Indianapolis to get some teeth... [and] we finally'won out in getting some responsible and accountable citizens' review commissions. The prevalence of police misconduct in America has motivated Amnesty International and Human RightsWatch to make police misconduct a key element in their campaigns this year on human rights violations inAmerica...Too often we think that in this country we are immune from such conduct. These groups have recognized that it is time to turn the world's attention to human rights here in America. Police misconduct is a logical starting point. The officers who repeatedly commit human rights violations tend to be a small minority who taint entire police departments. But they are protected routinely by the silence of their fellow officers and by flawed systems of reporting oversight and accountability. This misconduct stands in stark contrast to the example set by the vast majority of police officers; some who have paid for their dedication with their lives. Moreover, the lingering abuse by some in the police community tarnishes the reputation of police among our citizens, at a time when many of our communities are fighting the growing wave of crime and violence. It calls for increased cooperation between the police and its citizens. ...L~st year in Indianapolis, we racked up an all-time murder rate. This year we are matching that record rate with no ends nor bounds. We have an epidemic of illegal firearms flooding our communities; providing easy access to lethal firepower for criminals. Some of our neighborhoods are working to forge relationships with police officers who have assigned to them to prevent violence, by identifying crime problems and solving them before they erupt into violent crimes. Sadly this effort is hobbled by lingering distrust in many of our most affected areas distrust by community for the Indianapolis Police Department, distrust by members of our minority continues to be fed by incidents of brutality and racial discrimination. We need more police on our streets here to keep watch and to prevent crime before it happens. But we have a lack of commitment by our city administration to beef up the police force and improve relations between the force and many people in our communities. We probably have shortcomings in training and management--it's a common problem in cities of our size. We, like many cities, lack information about trends in abuse and in data about police department I con~nued from page 7 response to incidents and their plans and actions to prevent brutality... Because of the way cases have been explained by the media, the average citizen tends to believe that whatever the brutality was, that it was warranted; that the person had no business being there and doing what he or she was doing. We have found that police don't always write accurate reports of incidents; in terms of what happens there is some, for lack of a better word, cover-up of what actually happened in a situation... As a member of Congress, I believe that the federal government can play a constructive role in reducing incidents of police misconduct and improve the performance of our police department The U. S. Justice Department has initiated a pattern of practice, civil investigations that have resulted in agree- ments by several cities to implement reform to end police abuses. The Justice Department is advocating reform, such as better use of force training and policies and stronger reporting mechanisms and creation of early warning systems to identify current and potential officers at risk of engaging in abuse and im- proved disciplinary procedures... 8 I want to tell you again how very happy I am that you have come together in this way, to try to exchange ideas and strategies among your peers in this very difficult and challenging, but very necessary business; in terms of insuring that this in fact one nation under God with liberty and justice for all. We talk about human rights violations around the world and we certainly have a number of human rights viola- tions right here in the United States of America and in Indianapolis, Indiana specifically. So, again, I am very happy to be here, very happy that you've given me an opportunity to come and to see all of you wonderful people today. I would say that I would trust that you would pray for me as I go back to the devil's house in Washington, D.C. and I will be praying for you as you pursue your good work. I know that with all of the dialog and exchange that you will have here today that this will in fact eventually become one nation under God with liberty and justice for all people. Thank you so very much. · NEW AND CURRENTLY FORMING CIVILIAN OVERSIGHT MECHANISMS · Providence, Rhode Island · Cincinnati, Ohio · Worcester, Massachusetts · Las Vegas, Nevada · Muncie, Indiana · Sacramento, California · Anderson, Indiana · Duchess County Jail, Staatsburg, NY · Richmond, Indiana · Boise, Idaho · Knoxville,Tennessee · Eugene, Oregon · Jackson, Mississippi · Charlotte, North Carolina · Atlanta, Georgia · Iowa City, Iowa In addition, Philadelphia has a new Executive Director, Hector Sot~0, who was formerly Executive Director for the NewYork City Civilian Review Board. Please join us in supporting them in their endeavors. CELEBRATING I TS 30TH ANNIVERSARY! KANSAS C TY, Mi'SSOURI' OFFI'CE OF CI'T' ZEN COMPLATNTS ~ he Office of Citizen Complaints and the City community is preparing to celebrate its 30t~ / anniversary in September 1999.We are very proud of the Office's history and are grateful to Attorney Sidney Willens for his commitment to create a fair and impartial mechanism for redress of grievances for all citizens. HISTORY: The Office of Citizen Complaints probably mirrors that of other civilian review sys- tems. On February 5~ 1967, an African American male, Mr. Terry Riley, was traveling home from work when he was detained by a police officer of the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department for traffic infractions. The result of this police act resulted in Mr. Riley being beaten, hospitalized and cited for careless driving, failure to obey a lawful police order and resisting arrest Attorney, Sidney Willens successfully defended Mr. Riley where the prosecutor dismissed the charges and the subject officer was disciplined. In 1967 the citizens of Kansas City had no form of redress against alleged misconduRt by an officer. E. ach time an incident of this nature would occur, it would create racial tension, bitterness and dishar- mony between the police and in the minority community. Additionally, there had been many allegations of improper treatment, brutality or excessive force or other wrongful conduct by the police towards minorities, especially African-Americans. The Kansas City, Missouri Board of Police Commissions, a group of citizens appointed by the Governor of Missouri, was not attuned to the problems and the needs of the community and did not act on the complaints of the community. After city riots in the spring of 1968, a mechanism was put in place to adequately handle com- plaints of police abuse and misconduct Attorney Willens undertook the project of researching and studying grievances process in other cities and came up with a detailed set of recommendations to establish a civilian complaint review board. Individuals were able for the first time to register a com- plaint against police officer. Citizens including members of the police department were against the proposal to create a civilian review board citing it was unnecessary and would negatively effect the morale of the officers. On September 5, 1969, the Board voted and adapted the proposal for the creation of complaint system for Kansas City. On September 25, 1969 the Office of Citizen Complaints officially opened its doors. Over the years it has assisted in facilitating understanding and conciliation between the citizens and the police. The complaint system implemented restored the citizen's confidence in the police department and reduced the racial tension which was plaguing Kansas City. Today this office continues to be free of police control and operates under the authority of the Board.The office remains commit- ted to its primary purpose and mission to protect the citizen from the possibility of abuse of by police officers, and at the same time protect the police officers from unjust and unfair allegations. The office investigates about 450 complaints per year and makes recommendations to the Chief of Police.The Chief has the responsibility of deciding on the appropriate disciplinary action.The Office assures the citizens of Kansas City that all complaints will be expeditiously, fairly, and thoroughly medi- ated or investigated. A copy of the Ordinance creating the board can be obtained by contacting:. I. Pearl Fain at (816) 234-5008. · Kansas City, ldO Pregnant waitress shot by police. Case surrounded by allegations of police harassment and intimidation. (Kansas City Star, 2/25199) Trenton, NJ New Jersey State Police Superintendent dismissed for r~cist comments on the involvement of minority groups in criminal activities. Associated Press, 3/I/99) Cambridge, IdA Winston Jones awarded $32.000 settlement for violation of civil rights and malicious prosecution by Cam- bridge police. (Boston I-ler~ld, I I/21/98) Boston, MA 1 O Michael Cox, plainclothes officer, awarded $900,000 settlement after he was severely beaten by his co~- leagues, unaware he was a police officer, and lef~ bleeding on a dead end s~eet. (Boston Globe. 2/I 1/99) A LE1TER FROM OUR COLLEAGUES IN SALT LAKE CITY Our board was organized in January 1998, with 5 civilian member volunteers. I'm thankful to our staff support (Office of internal Audit) and the City for making it possible for us to attend NACOLE.We learned so much; I was excited to meet people with the same goals like me. We enioyed the presentations and wonderful speakers, and we came back to Salt Lake City all fired up, ready to work. I would like to share with you some of the things we have accomplished in Salt. Lake since attending the conference: Our city has a large minority population.We are very rich in diversity with different languages spoken in Salt Lake City, and in District 2 were I live, we have the largest ethnic representation in Salt Lake City. For example,our Latino population is approximately 15%,theAfrican Ameri- can population is 2%, the Asian Pacific Islander population is 8%. Because of this diversity, brochures in Spanish, Tongan, and Vietnamese as well as English were printed explaining the activities of the board and how to file a complaint against a Salt Lake City Police officer. Using the City of Berkeley board business cards as an example which we obtained at the conference, we printed our own in Spanish and English. We distributed brochures and business cards to churches, restaurants, homeless shelters, the Mexican Consulate, clubs, libraries. We plan to attend our Community Councils to let our neighbors know that our city has a Civilian Review Board and let them know our purpose. We also contacted a community oriented radio station to obtain free air time so one of our board members can inform the listeners about our board. We now invite the SLCPD administration, the ACLU, and the President of the Police Union to the Board meetings.They came to our last meeting and it was very interesting to know they were willing to help our board. We were inspired by a NACOLE speaker's discussions on establishing good relations with the police department. I recently was informed that our board will expand from 5 to 7 members and that Mayor Corradini sees the need for more minority representation in our board. As you all know, I'm the only minority in the board. We already submitted 3 names, and can't wait for our new members to come aboard. Perhaps they will be able to go to NACOLE'S conference this year! We are making a difference and changes are coming to Salt Lake City. Our reports and recommendations are seriously considered by the Mayor. But there is so much to do and we can't rest! We (you and me) are the voice of the ones that don't have a voice. Angtos and minorities, the poor, the homeless, the young, the uneducated, from all aspects of society, may be victims of mistreatment and we,as member of the CRB must be alert_ Well, I don't want you to fall asleep reading this article. I guess I write too much. I hope we all can meet again in Kansas City and recharge our batteries and return to our cities and towns to work with our good Police Officers. And to the bad cops out there, attention, like all of our fellow NACOLE members, and the good police officers in America, we don't want your type and your time on any police force is coming to an end. --Maria Roseto CLINTON'S [NADE( UATE APPROACH TO POLICE BRUTALTrY by Ma[vina Monteiro president Clinton, in his March 14, 1998 radio address from Little Rock, Arkansas, stated that he was concerned that the recent charges of police brutality could undermine the America's war against crime. The President called for 'renewed determination as a nation' to restore trust be- tween the public and law enforcemen~As a result, the President said he would ask the Justice Department to expand police ethics training to 30 regional community-policing centers.The President proposed a $40 million funding increase to improve police training nationally. This is not an adequate or well thought-out approach to improving relations between the police and the members of the African-American and Hispanic communities and solving the crisis of police misconduct and brutality toward these communities. Why provide more training to police officers that have been involved in these questionable killings and assaults if there isn't sufficient institutional commit- ment to investigate and punish incidents of police abuse? A program of this nature can only be effective if the police departments of US cities are actually committed to change. The evidence overwhelmingly says that police departments are committed to the status quo and an inflow of federal money will only rein- force that attitude. If we, as a nation, are to make any really improvement in police-civilian relations, we must first question what federal mechanisms are in place for citizens to ensure accountability in law enforcement before we proceed with any additional training for officers. In a Boston Globe article of the same date, President Clinton praised the Boston Police Department's 'strategy of establishing clear guidelines to involve residents in police decision-making and to hold police accountable for their actions.' I have very serious reservations about Clinton's praise for Boston's approach. The City of Boston does not have an independent citizens review board.The current citizens' review board which is referred to as a'community appeals board; is not empowered to conduct independent investigations, nor does it have subpoena power to call forward officers or witnesses. Board members are predominantly current or former (2 are former police officers) employees of the City of Boston. Their regulations require individuals to file complaints with the internal affairs division of the police department before seeking the help of the community appeals board. This does not constitute an effective accountability mechanism for citizens to question the activities of the Boston police department and most certainly should not be held up as an example of an effective ~trategy for community confidence building on the national level. Another egregious example of governmental misallocation is the creation of a $2 million citizen police academy to inform citizens of the work of law enforcement officers. Everyone knows what law enforcement officers do~or should do. This money could much more effectively be used to train officers in the use of non-violent arrest techniques, to promote civil rights awareness and protection in accor- dance with US laws, and for diversity and conflict resolution training to promote fair treatment of minor- ity communities and respect for their concerns. The African-American and Hispanic communities have paid an enormous price in the "war on crime." In my rough estimate, the City of Boston has already paid more than $ I million in police brutality settlements since the beginning of 1999. Community policing was meant to protect those communities, not to target them. Any money earmarked by the federal govern- ment for police brutality issues should directly address the affected communities and guarantee correc- tion of the underlying racism driving this violence. · MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION NACOLE · Sustaining Members are organizations and individu- als who wish to make tax deductible contributions to fur- FIFTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ther the goals and principles of NACOLE. Donations be- gin at Ss00. KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI · Organizational Members are agencies or boards who provide civilian oversight of law enforcement by leg- HYA1T REGENCY CROWN CENTER islative or executive mandate.These agencies will receive OCTOBER 5-8, 1999 one transferable regular r~embership and associate mem- berships for the remaining members of their boards. An- nual dues: $300 · Regular Members are individuals who are not sworn law enforcement officers but who work or have worked for agencies that are mandated by legislative or executive authority to investigate and review complaints against law enforcement officers. Annual dues: $150 · Associate Members are individuals concerned with the oversight of law enforcement. The members shall be able to participate in all NACOLE activities, including serv- ing on committees, but are ineligible to vote or serve as officers. Annual dues: $ 100 · Student Members are individuals who are full-tJme students and are concerned with the oversight of law en- forcement. Student members will be able to serve on com- mitCees but are ineligible to vote or serve as officers,An- nual dues:S25 Registration and hote[ information · For further information contact Clyde B. Davis at Wi[[ be mai[ed later this spring. (301) 731-5808. Patricia Farrant 1050 Woodlawn NATIONAL ASSOCIATION Iowa City, Iowa 52245-4446 FOR CI¥ILIAN O¥£R$IGHT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT P.O. Box 1110 Lanham, Manfland 20703 ' first class mail